


It's Summer In Redmont

by LifeOfRoos



Category: Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan
Genre: Baby's, Babysitting, F/M, Fluff, Food, Picnics, Summer, Summer Vibes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:54:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24677254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LifeOfRoos/pseuds/LifeOfRoos
Summary: It's summer and Redmont, but Will and Alyss have to go on a small assignment. It is the most wonderful thing that Pauline and Halt can look after their young son.
Relationships: Alyss mainwaring & Jennifer ''Jenny'' Dalby, Halt O'Carrick & Will Treaty, Pauline duLacy/Halt O'Carrick, Will Treaty & Jennifer ''Jenny'' Dalby, Will Treaty/Alyss Mainwaring
Comments: 5
Kudos: 6
Collections: Ranger's Apprentice Summer Fluff 5K





	It's Summer In Redmont

**Author's Note:**

  * For [avid_author_activist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/avid_author_activist/gifts).



> Please forgive me for my second hand english and my writing-slum writing... I figured out fluff is not really my vibe. Well, I still hope you'll get a kick out of it!

‘It is summer in Redmont,’ Will muttered, with a happy grin on his face.   
‘I see you finally noticed the obvious.’   
‘Come on, Halt, let a little bit of sunshine into your heart. Besides -’ Will held up his 9 month old son - ‘Terry still needs to learn!’ Halt tried to look stern, but his face swiftly softened. He loved the little boy, who he secretly saw as his own grandson, just a little too much. Halt smiled. ‘...I guess he does,’ he muttered. Will grinned from ear to ear.   
‘Are you developing a soft spot?’ Halt got up. Alright, that was too much.   
‘No.’ Will held his son close and gave the baby an endearing look.   
‘I know you always have.’   
Halt turned around. ‘I think I am going to go back to the castle.’ Will got up as well.   
‘Then I'll go back to the hut. Alyss probably wants to see our little man before he goes to sleep. Remember, you and Pauline are going to babysit tomorrow!’ Halt felt that he was blushing a little. He still could not believe he had become a babysitter. Of course, looking after Gilan and Will when they were apprentices had also been babysitting to a certain extent, but at least they had not been literal babies. Well, times changed, he knew that well. 

Halt looked over his shoulder while Will walked back to the house by the edge of the forest. Halt’s old apprentice was still looking at his little boy with adoration in his eyes. Halt smiled (There was no one around to see it anyway) and continued on walking to Redmont. The castle was looking gorgeous at this time of the day. The sun was hanging low, so that the red hill seemed to glow. It sounded like there were still a lot of people out and about in the village, enjoying the wonderful evening and each others company, but Halt did not feel like joining in (He rarely did). Instead, he went straight to his apartment.

He had expected to be alone and was pleasantly surprised when he saw that Pauline was also in the room. She was sitting at her desk, writing a letter in the evening sun. Her blonde hair looked golden in the evening light. She looked up when she heard the door opening. ‘Oh, you are home already? I did not expect you to be back so soon!’ Halt shrugged.   
‘Will got a little too far with finding me endearing. Also, he needed to bring the little man back to Alyss.’ Pauline smiled for a bit.   
‘He adores the little sweetheart. And I do not think he is the only one.’ Halt shrugged.   
‘Terry is a nice baby, but I still think they should have named him differently!’ Pauline laughed out loud. ‘You adore him, name and all, and you know it!’ Halt put on his annoyed face and sat down in a comfy chair. ‘Who are you writing?’   
‘A colleague in the south. She has been terribly overworked and I am asking her if she would like to go on a vacation.’  
‘Does that mean she will come here?’  
‘Just into the castle, not into our apartment.’ pauline chuckled and stood up. 'It will be fun. She is one of my more intelligent colleagues.'   
Halt looked up. 'We should put aside some time for the us two, too.'   
Pauline's smile grew. 'Do not worry. I will make sure to keep some time just for us. I never regret times spend with you.' 

‘I am back!’ Will called out, while walking into his little house with Terry on his arm. Alyss looked up from her book. ‘Is he tired already?’  
‘It is more like Halt was tired already.’ Alyss chuckled and got up to take over the baby.  
‘Of course.’ She cradled the child in her arms. ‘I just hope he won’t get tired during babysitting tomorrow.’  
‘You mean Halt or Terry?’  
‘Both.’  
‘I think Pauline will make sure Halt does not fall asleep and will take great care of Terry if he gets a little cranky.’ Alyss gave her family an adoring look.. ‘Yes, of course.’ She gave Will a kiss on his cheek. ‘Now let us put this little guy to bed.’  
\

The next day, Will and Alyss brought Terry to Halt and Pauline. The older woman smiled warmly while taking the child into her arms. ‘What an absolute sweetheart.’  
‘You always say that!’  
‘And I mean it every single time.’   
Will pulled his bow and full quiver over his shoulder. He and Alyss had to go on a mission that should not take longer than a day, but he liked to be prepared. ‘Do you have any plans?’  
‘Yes, we were planning on going on a picnic in the afternoon!’   
‘Have fun!’   
‘Oh, we will.’ Pauline took the baby back inside, while Will and Alyss slowly walked off.  
Alyss put her hand on her heart. ‘I know we can trust them, I would not want anybody else to look after our child, but still… every single time I leave him, I feel worried.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Oh, I am probably imagining things. We will come back and everything will be fine, don’t you think?’ Alyss looked up at Will, just to see that he was looking even more worried than she was. ‘I… I think I know what you mean,’ he said weakly. Alyss held back a smile and kissed him on the cheek. ‘We’ll see him again this afternoon.’ 

The morning went smoothly. When Terry woke up, he began to softly weep. Halt was out to get food from the kitchen, so Pauline gave him a change of diaper and clothes.   
Halt looked around the corner of the apartment. ‘Is he awake?’ Pauline nodded.   
‘Wide awake.’  
‘Then let’s go now. There are not so many people by the river yet.’ Pauline sighed.   
‘Come on, nobody will think it is weird!’   
Halt shrugged. ‘Maybe not. Let’s just go.’ 

It was almost precisely twelve O'clock when they arrived by Paulines’ favorite spot by the river. She spread out the picnic blanket. Halt set down the basket and began to unpack, while Pauline softly rocked Terry. The baby was babyishly looking around. Halt started unpacking slower and slower, until all he was doing was looking at Terry and Pauline. The older woman chuckled.   
‘Come, shall I unpack? Then you can hold him.’  
‘What? But…’ Pauline gave Terry to Halt without awaiting an answer.   
Halt looked at the little boy in his hands. He felt like he was melting on the inside when the child laughed at him. Halt could not help but laugh back. He held the baby slightly closer.  
Pauline peeked at her husband and grandchild while putting down the bread and cheese. She knew Halt had more than just a soft spot for the baby. ‘Do you want a glass of wine?’ She asked, while pulling out a bottle. The cook chose a most exquisite one. Halt shook his head.  
‘No, we cannot be a bad influence.’  
‘He is an infant!’ Pauline said with a wide grin.  
‘They learn younger than you think!’ Pauline thought about that for some time, before putting the bottle away. ‘Alright then, maybe you are right. Do you want some orange juice, then?’

The cook had put the freshest vegetables and the best parts of meat and cheese into their basket. When put together with the freshly baked bread, it tasted like heaven on a plate. For Terry, there was some warmed milk in a bottle. Halt soaked some bread in the milk, before holding it in front of Terry. ‘Here, little man, you can eat that, it won't hurt you.’ The baby bit into the small bite of fresh bread. He did not seem to be worried at all about potential dangers. He just wanted the yummy bite! 

After lunch, Halt put the baby onto the cloth to crawl around. He noticed there were some other people around them now and some of them kept looking over at the ranger, his wife and the baby. He even saw some of them snicker!   
Halt sunk down onto the cloth. He wrapped his cloak around him so the people could not see his face. Pauline pushed it away. ‘Come on. Nobody thinks it is weird.’  
‘They do!’  
‘No, they do not.’ She stroked his arm. ‘They think it is weirder if you keep being ashamed about it.’ Halt looked around as far as he dared, at the people sitting around them. Most seemed to be enjoying the summer afternoon, without paying much attention to him at all. The ones that were, were all people that had nothing better to do than gossip - Halt knew the type. He should not feel ashamed because of them. He let his shoulders relax and sat up straighter.  
‘We should make him his own ranger cape,’ Halt fantasized out loud, while looking at Terry, who was rolling around on the blanket. Pauline smiled.  
‘Oh, you could ask the seamstress to make him one! I think Will would adore it. After all, both his father and grandfather were great rangers.’ Halt smiled at his wife. He knew she saw the child as her grandson as well. ‘They were, they were.’ Pauline took a deep breath. For a moment, they just sat there, enjoying the summer just like the people around them were. 

After half an hour or so, little Terry began to yawn. ‘Oh, we should bring him home for an afternoon nap!’ Halt cooed. In the back of his brain, he asked himself what the heck he was saying. He could not be serious, could he? Yet, he wrapped the baby into a part of his cloak and picked him up. ‘Let's bring him home.’ Pauline nodded.  
‘Yes.’

She packed up the picnic hamper (Halt insisted he could not possibly pack, after all, he was carrying the child,) and together, they walked home. When they were out of sight of the other people, Halt put his hand around Paulines’ waist. She put hers around his shoulders and they did not let go until they reached the castle.

Halt put Terry in his crib while Pauline sat down at her desk to focus on another letter. While the baby slowly drifted off to sleep, Halt walked up to Pauline and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She raised her eyebrows. ‘That does not happen often!’  
‘I thought you looked pretty.’ Pauline smiled, like she had been doing almost the whole day (How could she not? The summer atmosphere would make everyone overjoyed), and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. ‘Could you watch him for a moment?’ 

At the end of their day, Will and Alyss felt no hurry to go back. They strolled through the main street of the village. When they passed her restaurant, Jenny came running out onto the street. ‘Will! Alyss!’   
‘Jenny! Good to see you! We…’   
‘You have to do something for me! I took the time to say hi on a busy summer day, you must take the time to sample something!’ Alyss and Will looked at each other.  
‘I… I think Terry will be fine for a few more minutes,’ Alyss said, although she did not sound completely sure of herself. Jenny grabbed their hands. ‘Please?’ Will could not help but smile because of her enthusiastic outlook. It was clear she had made something she was extraordinarily proud of. ‘How could we say no on a day this gorgeous?’   
Jenny lead them inside. ‘Look. I made wild roast with seasonal vegetables, but I thought it might taste even better when I add sauce. Now, will you see if the garlic sauce or this strange sauce the name of which I cannot pronounce, but comes out of Arida is better?’   
She gave them each a small plate with some bread, a slice of meat and vegetables. Will picked up a piece of bread and dipped it into the garlic sauce. Not that it was necessary, because he already knew Jenny could make an absolutely delicious garlic sauce. He simply never passed up an opertunity to eat it. After that, he dipped his bread into the Aridian sauce. He tasted carefully and looked over to Alyss. ‘Hm. What do you think?’   
Alyss had put the sauces on the meat first, before tasting it on bread.   
‘It’s a close call.’ She took a bite of carrot, before sighing. ‘You know what? Serve both. It’s a beautiful summer eve, the townspeople deserve something special after a hard days work.’ Jenny looked at the scraps on the plate.  
‘You know what? You are right,’ she answered. She looked relieved, as if she had never wanted to choose in the first place. ‘I think you deserve a reward for helping me, although your advice is always priceless. How about I give you a free meal for take away? That way there is no more cooking tonight…’   
Will nodded enthusiastically before she could even finish her sentence. ‘Even if I liked cooking, I would not say no to eating your food for free, Jenny!’   
‘How could we?’ Alyss added with a wide grin.  
‘That’s what friends are for!’ Jenny added, before slipping away to the kitchen to pack their dinner.

‘So, I see you stopped at Jenny’s,’ Halt said as soon as he opened the door.   
‘It’s more like Jenny stopped us,’ Will said with a shrug.  
‘But nothing for your poor mentors, obviously.’  
‘You had a big lunch!’  
‘So what?’ They all heard Pauline sigh. She was carrying a sleeping Terry.   
‘Here’s the little gentleman.’ She gave him to Alyss and put her hand on Halts shoulder. ‘Enjoy your meal!’   
‘Thanks Pauline!’ Will and Alyss walked away after some smiles and waves.   
‘They know you adore that child.’  
‘Hm.’  
‘So you do not have to hide it, just like you did not need to hide anything this afternoon.’   
‘If you say so.’ Pauline rolled her eyes an nudged his shoulder, before walking back into the apartment. Maybe it was not in Halts’ character to come out of his shell much, but she knew he had a heart of gold. 

Alyss and Will were lazily sitting on their front porch. Terry was still asleep, so it was time for some well-deserved relaxation. Spontaneously, Will kissed Alyss on the lips. Alyss kissed him back. When they parted again, Will took a deep breath. ‘It is a gorgeous summer in Redmont.’  
‘I think there will be many more of these to come,’ Alyss answered. She laid her head on Wills’ shoulder. He gave a firm nod.   
‘I think you are right, Alyss. But with you and our little Terry, the rest of my life will probably be gorgeous.


End file.
